18 April 2023 – A Filipino-Canadian baker, Ms. Marie Mallari, who won an episode of the Food Network Canada’s third season of The Big Bake: Holiday, visited the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver on 17 April 2023. She was accompanied by her mom, kids, and husband.
The Big Bake: Holiday is a TV show which features professional baking teams that design, bake and decorate a grand-scale cake creation based on a particular theme.
Marie, head cake artist and co-owner of Sugar Blooms and Cakes, joined by her two teammates and fellow cake decorators, Erika Rotor and Geraldine Ong, created a nearly five-foot-tall custom cake made of ube (purple yam) and macapuno (sweetened coconut strings) in five hours.
According to Marie, they wanted to do something that incorporated the Filipino culture in it so they made edible replicas of balikbayan boxes — cargo boxes filled with gifts, toys, and goodies that Filipinos send to their families back home. Marie’s team, referred to as Jingle Bakes, also included the Philippines’ carabao or water buffalo, rooster and parol (Filipino ornamental lantern displayed during the Christmas season) in their over-all design.
Sugar Blooms and Cakes, located at McPhillips Street in Winnipeg, Manitoba, took home the $10,000 grand prize with its “Paw Express Cargo Cake.” END
